Geyern Castle

Geyern Castle, one of the most magnificent manors in the Franconian Jura, has been in the hands of the Schenken von Geyern for over 1000 years (Wolff Schenk v. Geyern is mentioned as a knight tournament winner as early as 935) and remains in the family possession of their descendants to this day.

After partial destruction by the Dukes of Bavaria, it was granted as a fief to the hereditary cupbearers of the Counts of Hirschberg, the Schenken von Hofstetten, Eichstätt ministerials, in 1276.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, they became feudatories of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach, combined with high offices. The castle complex was demolished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The current castle was built on the foundations of the margravial official residence from 1756 and redesigned in the Neo-Gothic style with tower and bay window additions in 1874/75.

The castle chapel of St. Bartholomew appears as a late Gothic choir tower complex with alterations in the margravial style from the 17th and 18th centuries. It served as the burial place of the Schenken von Geyern and contains valuable tombstones as well as family epitaphs by the Eichstätt master Loy Hering.